You Can't Take It with You

"You'll love them all for giving you the swellest time you've ever had!"

1938 2h 6m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 467

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

“You'll love them all for giving you the swellest time you've ever had!”

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Cast

Jean Arthur
Alice Sycamore
Lionel Barrymore
Martin Vanderhof
James Stewart
Tony Kirby
Edward Arnold
Anthony P. Kirby
Mischa Auer
Kolenkhov
Ann Miller
Essie Carmichael
Spring Byington
Penny Sycamore
Samuel S. Hinds
Paul Sycamore

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Robert Riskin
Languages: English, Russian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

88 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Capra, shot by Joseph Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gene Havlick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Capra directs. Joseph Walker behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Gene Havlick cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
388 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
5Directed by Frank Capra, shot by Joseph Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Gene Havlick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You'll love them all for giving you the swellest time you've ever had!".
10IMDB entry: tt0030993 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "harmonica", "monopoly", "house", "tycoon".

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph Walker
Original score: Dimitri Tiomkin
Editing: Gene Havlick
Costume design: Irene
Makeup / hair: William Knight
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,640,000
Box office: $7,433,101
Return: 453% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: You Can't Take It with You (1938)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Director

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Frank Capra

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Community reviews

What people are saying

barrymost2019-08-09
★ 10/10
If you enjoy this review, please check out my blog, Old Hat Cinema, at https://oldhatcinema.medium.com/ for more reviews and other cool content. A heartwarming film from start to finish My favorite movie is Frank Capra's 1938 Best Picture winner, You Can't Take It with You. Okay, honestly I have a good twenty favorite movies. But this one ranks above them all. Why? Because I love the feel, the message, the theme inherent in the plot. Put very simply, it is this: life is too short to waste it in the pursuit of wealth, which ultimately brings no happiness. It makes infinitely more sense to spend it bringing joy into your own life, and the lives of those around you. Why, you might ask, do you need to spend over two hours watching a movie just to hear this idea reiterated? Because, I would answer, the journey, from the opening scenes of a day in the life of a wealthy Wall Street banker to the final scene of saying grace before supper, is just so much fun - good, clean, heartwarming fun, at that. Also, there is the not inconsiderable merit of Mr. Lionel Barrymore playing the harmonica and railing against the "isms" of the world. Under Capra's expert direction, a mix of acting talents so perfect the cast must have been blessed from above, comes together to create one of the most down-to-earth, enjoyable, and hilarious screwball comedies of all time. Oh, but be warned: the firecrackers do tend to go off with a real bang from time to time. It's the story of Alice Sycamore, a relatively normal young woman - normal considering she comes from an offbeat clan of free spirits, including her grandfather Martin Vanderhof, her aspiring playwright mother Penny, and one old gentleman who came to deliver the ice one day and never left. She's a secretary for the son of banking magnate Anthony P. Kirby, and she falls in love with the boss's son - or rather, with the back of his head, as she tells him herself. But the horribly sane, dull world of Anthony Kirby, Jr. isn't so well-suited to the topsy-turvy, go-with-the-flow lifestyle adopted by Alice's family. The rest of the film deals with the juxtaposition of the two very different ideals and lifestyles, and whether or not Alice and Tony can find happiness together. Some ridicule this film as an over-the-top fantasy slamming work ethic and responsibility, and making the rich look like poor fools. While it's true that life can't always be as simple and beautiful as it is for the fictional Vanderhof family, it's a gentle reminder of what's really important in life, and how we need to take the time to live in the moment, sometimes even with joyous abandon, and never forget to have some fun. Consider the Vanderhof family this way: each person seen as a unique individual; free to do whatever it is they want to do most; never overlooked; never judged; but always loved. I like to think that almost every person secretly, somewhere deep down inside, would want to live that way. I know I would.

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